Picasso's La Pique linocut is among the top lots of a sale of 19th & 20th Century Prints and Drawings at Swann Auction Galleries in New York on September 23-24.

The piece, valued at $40,000-60,000, dates to 1959 and is drawn from a series of works showing a mounted picador dispatching a bull with a lance.

Picasso's La Pique is one of a number of works that explores bullfighting

The linocut technique was developed as an art form by Picasso and Matisse, who invented a reductive method that resulted in the destruction of the plate after it was used - meaning that each print in the series was unique.

The theme of the bullfight was one that Picasso would explore throughout his career. He was a huge fan of the sport and continued to visit the arenas in the south of France after leaving Spain for Provence.

We have a superb signature from Picasso on a postcard of his iconic Femme Ivre se Fatigue.  

Matisse's Figure endormie aux babouches (1929) is expected to make $20,000-30,000.

The work was executed in a run of 60 (including 10 artist's proofs) and dates to his Nice period. Matisse was resident in the city from 1917 until his death in 1954 and his work from this time exhibits a distinct change from his earlier, more avant garde style.

Click here to take a look at our amazing range of art and photography memorabilia, featuring signatures from artists as diverse as Claude Monet and Damien Hirst.

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